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| Terror Networks |
| Gunaratna on Foopie's arrest |
| 2004-07-30 |
| NICK MCKENZIE: Pakistani officials say Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani was arrested after a 12-hour clash between its security forces and militants in a small town in central Pakistan. The US has been hunting Ghailani for several years and was offering up to $25 million for information leading to his arrest. Aged in his early 30s, the Tanzanian-born militant had been indicted in the US for the bombing of US embassies in August 1998, which left 213 people dead in Kenya, and 11 dead in Tanzania. ROHAN GUNARATNA: He worked mostly with the operational leaders of al-Qaeda. So he remained a very important figure in terms of conducting terrorist attacks. NICK MCKENZIE: That's terrorism expert, Professor Rohan Gunaratna. He says over the past three years, almost 3,5000 or around 80 per cent of al-Qaeda members have been killed or arrested in more than 100 countries. Professor Gunaratna says Ghailani is the most significant al-Qaeda member to be arrested since the capture more than a year ago of the mastermind of the September 11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. ROHAN GUNARATNA: Al-Qaeda has been significantly weakened, and of course, recent arrests is a clear indication that the organisation is gradually falling apart. Al-Qaeda per se is becoming weak, but its associated groups still remain strong. NICK MCKENZIE: Professor Gunaratna says organisations associated with al-Qaeda are likely to remain inspired while its two most senior leaders, Osama bin Laden and Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri remain on the run. ROHAN GUNARATNA: They're very much behind the instigation of this contemporary wave of violence. The co-leadership of al-Qaeda still remains free and they're believed to be on the Afghan-Pakistan border, which is a 1,520 mile-long border. It's very difficult to capture anyone on a border like that unless there is specific intelligence. NICK MCKENZIE: Professor Gunaratna says recruitment of new al-Qaeda members is continuing, albeit at a much slower rate. He says the group's operation capacity is weakened, but it has retained the ability to launch small to medium-scale attacks. ROHAN GUNARATNA: As long as there is recruitment, the group will continue to survive. So certainly the attack will continue, but I do not think that we will face another attack like 9/11 because they do not have significant high quality operatives. Medium to small-scale attacks of Bali, Marriott — those attacks are very much likely. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #2 LOL, it's fun to be on the edge of the snark wave. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-30 7:18:53 PM |
| #1 Hang on, Foopie! Foopie hang on! |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-07-30 5:26:04 PM |